God in a box and pets in Heaven

I used to think that animals didn't go to heaven.

I mean, I knew there were animals IN heaven - the Bible is definitely clear about that. I just didn't believe that animals WENT to heaven.

I've had this conversation many times with Jack, and I've been very clear with him: I'm definitely not sure about this, and I could be wrong - there are certainly many people who disagree with me - but since animals don't have a soul, I just didn't believe that they went to heaven.

Believing that our pets go to heaven, I thought, was just a nice thing to say to kids, and it made people feel better when they had to flush their pet goldfish down the toilet. I always reasoned that believing that animals went to heaven when they died was just a way to keep God inside the parameters of our human minds... inside the box we've created for Him because of the limits of our understanding.

Then we got a dog.

We've only had Pepper for about three months, but when his time comes, I know I'm going to want to imagine him in heaven. Now, before you start to worry about the fact that I'm so dark and pessimistic that I'm already planning the funeral of our brand new dog, let me pass the buck on to Jack.

We were walking Pepper a couple of days ago, and Jack said, "Do you think that when Pepper dies, he'll go to heaven and be Paul's dog? Paul always wanted a dog." I was instantly converted to a believer in pet-heaven.

Jack and I talked about how God certainly could do something like that, and I assured him that if Pepper did go to heaven, the Lord would make sure that Paul knew he was our dog in his previous life.

I admit: I really don't know the truth on this topic. But I DO know that our God is a generous and loving Father who lavishes us with blessings beyond what we deserve or can even imagine. Pepper in heaven fits perfectly of what I know about God... in or out of the box.